Obviously the no1 and 2 Fed and Djoko would be in opposite halves and could not meet until the final.Not sure how they do it at the USO, do they pair the No.3 with the No.1, i.e. Fed's half of the draw, or with the No.2 ?

So if they pair the No.3 with the no.1, instead of Nadal, Fed would have a semifinal with Murray, if there are no upstes along the way.Probably a slight advantage for Fed, I think he'd rather play Murray than Nadal in the semi.If they pair the No.1 with the No.4 , Fed would get Ferrer in the semis, which he would like much better, I think.

I believe that it is supposed to be random, and the seeds 3 and 4 can end up either in the top or bottom half of the draw.

So, Murray can end up either on Feds or Djokers half of the draw. It would be interesting to see who will step up and be favorite for the 4th semi final spot? Hope it is Delpo, he can play some great tennis if he is on a roll.

I believe that it is supposed to be random, and the seeds 3 and 4 can end up either in the top or bottom half of the draw.

So, Murray can end up either on Feds or Djokers half of the draw. It would be interesting to see who will step up and be favorite for the 4th semi final spot? Hope it is Delpo, he can play some great tennis if he is on a roll.

Ferrer will be in the fourth spot(seed) but not sure if he'll make it that far.

It's just possible he may come back to play Davis Cup on the clay against the USA in Spain 14-16 Sep 2012.

I suppose we might have a good idea if that's the case if he resumes his recuperation and practice on the clay courts in Manacor.

At least his effort this year resulted in a record 7th Roland Garros title. No one can take that honor away from him.

Respectfully,masterclass

davis cup is important but what good is a davis cup win if he can't keep himself in contention for the top prizes in tennis which are the slams? really the interest is gone with him skipping the us open.........he is just a clown who doesn't know how to approach a full tennis season........just a big clown.......

Let us keep in mind that he is a player that needs to spend a lot of time on the court to keep his game sharp. That requires more practice and more matches. He cannot pull a Serena and walk on the court in round 1 rusty as all get out and still easily win the tournament. He does what he needs to for his game to be at the level he feels it needs to be at. Honestly, I am surprised he has not missed more tennis as grueling as his game is on his body.

It's a shame the US Open will not see him this year though. That means one of the big 4 who are always making the semis are out, leaves the door open for someone else.

I believe that it is supposed to be random, and the seeds 3 and 4 can end up either in the top or bottom half of the draw.

So, Murray can end up either on Feds or Djokers half of the draw. It would be interesting to see who will step up and be favorite for the 4th semi final spot? Hope it is Delpo, he can play some great tennis if he is on a roll.

Ferrer will be in the fourth spot(seed) but not sure if he'll make it that far.

I believe that it is supposed to be random, and the seeds 3 and 4 can end up either in the top or bottom half of the draw.

So, Murray can end up either on Feds or Djokers half of the draw. It would be interesting to see who will step up and be favorite for the 4th semi final spot? Hope it is Delpo, he can play some great tennis if he is on a roll.

Ferrer will be in the fourth spot(seed) but not sure if he'll make it that far.

I don't think he should even play DC at all. He did enough for Spain already, it's the best of 5, not sure if that's the best way to come back. why wouldn't he pick up a smaller tournament (250) to get some matches under his belt?

I think the REAL question now is if some of the predictions over the last 5 years will come true.. Will Nadal stop to be a force on any surface other than clay? With this news, it means that it has to be more than tendinitis and probably a worse injury on both his knees (specially the left one). Many people, including me, said about 3-4 years ago that Nadal wouldn't be a player who lasted much on tour, even less to be a force in majors after his 27 years of age, mostly due to his game philosophy and his never say die attitude with bad knees which takes a toll to the body. Have Nadal's knees had enough of this gruelling type of game and will start to see a Nadal declining on any surface apart from clay? Or will he recover and can play past his 30s? I for one don't see that happening unfortunately.Either way, its a sad day for tennis and wish all the best to Nadal. Let's hope I am wrong and it is just a severe case of "JUST" tendinitis.The problem is, as time goes by, I don't see that happening and his body isn't turning any younger... and the question everybody is asking themselves is: How far can Nadal keep this up?

I do agree with Shankar on this. Be it that Indian Wells, Miami, Rome, Monte Carlo, Madrid ARE big tournaments, there was no need for Nadal to play DOUBLES, he pushed his body to the limits.. One thing is to play singles and rest for matches and the other is to play both formats (singles and doubles) and expect everything would be just fine just because its clay... If he were to skip Barcelona and play only singles on Masters 1000 events, then that would be another story.. but NO, he decided to play all formats, he only missed out on mix-doubles... LOL...Terrible scheduling on his part.

Anyway, Shank, let's see how he holds up and how will he return to courts. But unless he changes all of his scheduling, he won't last long to this demanding tour and you will have to change your predictions about how many GSs he will end up with.

Relax, guys. He can still come back. Atleast, it's not a surgery like the numerous ones which Hewitt, Nalbandian and Haas had to undergo.

I am counting on Nadal to come back.. I have no doubt about this... I was talking about his longevity.. True he hasn't had any real surgery, but his knees are a problem and always have been.. It's a chronic issue.. and his longevity is SO in question with this news.. Every year is even worse and it won't get easier on his body if he keeps playing his regular style of play.

A chronic issue is even worse than some major surgery that would grant him to recover over a period of time.. he has to live with those knees and on a chronic condition like this one it will only get worse as time passes by and specially if he continues to push his knees to the limit... I had a chronic condition that put me on the sidelines, I used to play tennis for my university and now I can't even play a 5 set match before my knees have had enough, obviously is needless to say I had to drop out of the team...Now, imagine (that even with these top-notch doctors and technology) Nadal is still putting a lot of pressure to those knees and he will have to be careful or I don't see any improvements on Nadal for the next couple of years.

Chronic problems on the knees take a toll in the future, and it doesn't matter how good the doctors are, your knees are the ones are going to shut down one day...

Nadal made a statement around March this year that his tendons and knees were in better shape than they were two years ago and didn't bother him at all anymore.This makes sense, we didn't hear anything about the knees for a couple years.

Besides all of this he hasn't said what the problem is, everyone just guesses that it must be the knees.

I don't know why he isn't making a statement abut the actual problem, he always has before.

I could be that the loss to Rosol really put him in the dumps and he needs to reformulate his plans going foreward.

Nadal made a statement around March this year that his tendons and knees were in better shape than they were two years ago and didn't bother him at all anymore.This makes sense, we didn't hear anything about the knees for a couple years.

Besides all of this he hasn't said what the problem is, everyone just guesses that it must be the knees.

I don't know why he isn't making a statement abut the actual problem, he always has before.

I could be that the loss to Rosol really put him in the dumps and he needs to reformulate his plans going foreward.

i think it's just the knee, swish........he takes an annual blood replacement(in the tendon tissues) treatment every july after wimbledon without which he cannot continue for the second half of the season........he normally recovers by toronto but this time he just din't........maybe his knees have become resistant to this current treatment and by saying that this injury is different, he probably meant that he needs to find another method of treatment........

he shouldn't have stretched himself so badly in the first half, i think that's what has made his knees unresponsive to the treatment........he is needing more time than usual to recover........

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Marian Vajda to Novak Djokovic, "I saw you beat that man like I never saw no man get beat before, and the man KEPT COMING AFTER YOU! Now we don't need no man like that in our lives."